we do not accept humiliation

dignified souls refuse to prefer the obedience of the lowly over the noble deaths of the honorable.” This point about obedience is remarkable. Imam Hussain (AS) said: These noble men who are with me, these young people who have come with me and lined up around me, they too will not submit to disgrace, neither for themselves nor for the Islamic nation. These are not people who would prefer obedience to the lowly and despicable over death and martyrdom and sacrifice.

The Poetry of Imam Ali Akbar (AS)
Ali ibn Hussain (AS), known as Ali Akbar (AS), when reciting his battle cry (rajaz) on the day of Ashura, reflected the same sentiments of his father:

I am Ali, the son of Hussain, the son of Ali,
By the House of God, we are closer to the Prophet.

I will strike you with the spear until it bends,
I will defend my father with the sword.

The strike of a Hashemite, an Arab youth,
By God, the son of the illegitimate will not rule over us.
The Poetry of Furwah as Recited by Imam Hussain (AS)
In one of his sermons, Imam Hussain (AS) recited the poetry of Furwah ibn Maseek Muradi, a companion and one of the great figures among the Prophet’s (PBUH) followers, expressing a powerful message to the enemy:

If we defeat (our enemies), we have always been victorious,
And if we are defeated, we are not truly overcome.
O army of Sham! If we defeat you today, that is our nature and habit, as we have always subdued our enemies. And if we are defeated, if we are killed and you appear to have triumphed over us, we are still not defeated, nor truly overcome. If we kill, victory is ours, and if we are killed, victory is still ours.

We are not cowardly or weak,
Our fate and the future are with us.
We are not cowardly people; we are the brave leaders of the world. And if we are killed, it is not because we are cowardly, but because our time has come, and today is the day of our martyrdom and sacrifice.

When death spares some people,
It attacks others among us.
Such is the nature of life; when death lifts its hand from one group, it descends upon another. And today, it has pressed upon us.

Thus my people’s noble ones perish,
Just as past generations have perished.
Just as the people of the past have passed away, today is the day for us and our companions to depart. Then comes a most profound and extraordinary line of poetry:

If kings were immortal, then we would have been immortal,
If the noble were to remain forever, then we would have remained.
If the kings of the world lived forever, we too, as the kings of both realms, would have lived forever. And if the noble and the brave of the world had a path to eternal life, that path would have been open to us before anyone else. Imam Hussain (AS) knew with absolute certainty that he would achieve victory in all stages of his struggle.

The Significance of the Uprising of Imam Hussain (AS)

One important point to note is that some might mistakenly think from this speech or from other discussions surrounding the holy uprising of Imam Hussain (AS) that all revolutions in Islam, both past and future, up to the Day of Judgment, are merely reflections of the uprising of Imam Hussain (AS). This is not correct. The uprising of Imam Hussain (AS) had both precedents and consequences. As I mentioned earlier, Imam Hussain (AS) was the center of all holy Islamic uprisings; what came before was affirmed by the uprising of Imam Hussain (AS), and what came after and will come in the future takes inspiration from the uprising of Imam Hussain (AS). If someone interprets the uprising of Imam Hussain (AS) as if Imam Hussain (AS) rose up and thereby relieved the Muslim nation of all future responsibilities, revolts, and duties, this is a grave mistake. This way of thinking is directly opposed to the aim of Imam Hussain (AS). During the second half of Uthman’s caliphate, the severe deviation of the Muslims from the true path of Islamic governance became apparent. The uprising began from that point.

The purpose of the uprising was clear, and it was led by Imam Hussain (AS) with the noble hands of those great individuals from the early Islamic history.

This uprising was continued in the later history of Islam as well. However, if people are unable or unwilling to recognize the value of these uprisings, their excuse is their ignorance and lack of understanding.